A Connecticut Cop Halts Gun Shows After Newtown

Source: TMP

Michael Gugliotti, chief of police in Waterbury, Conn., decided to stop issuing gun show permits on the day after the nearby Newtown massacre.

“I was just sitting home, really just thinking about what I need to do as a police chief during this type of crisis to ensure that our citizens are feeling safe and comfortable,” Gugliotti told TPM on Friday.

It happened that the day before, one of his aides had a scheduled meeting with a representative of Westchester Collectors Inc., which wanted to hold a firearm and knife show in Waterbury on Jan. 12 and 13. (According to The American-Republican newspaper, the company planned to hold the show at the convention center of the CoCo Key Water Resort Hotel on East Main Street.) Waterbury, a city of 110,000, is about 20 miles northeast of Newtown.

“Out of respect and honor for those 26 folks that lost their life in Newtown, I made the decision then and there to send the promoter a message that I would not be signing any permit for any gun show until further notice,” Gugliotti said.

36. Presumably the goal is fewer guns sold, not more background checks. n/t

22. I once tagged along with a friend to a big gun show here in CA.

It also featured a big chili cook-off (which is what enticed us to come). I imagine they are the same everywhere. It's like a Star Trek convention for gun nuts, except the fantasy they are all living out is a crazy bang bang shoot 'em up Rambo scenario that they want to live out in real life. You can buy pretty much anything that shoots there (all I bought was chili), and if what you want is not sitting on the table in front of you, someone will give you a connection to make that purchase. It's sort of like an unspoken gun nut brotherhood. Everyone sitting behind the table claimed to be a "gun dealer" but they all looked like they lived alone in a cabin in the woods. Beyond creepy. Rachel Maddow once took a camera into a gun show and it was exactly like the one I attended. A whole convention floor full of crazy. Chili cook-offs are a good thing. Gun shows? Not so much.

23. He made the right decision.

28. Pass a Law Against Gun Shows

I hope the Chief can come up with some good legal reasons for refusing the permit before the lawsuit is filed. It may feel good now, but you really do not want public officials banning legal activities based on their feelings.

What happens when a Red county Sheriff refuses a permit for a otherwise legal activity because of his personal feelings? The proper way to do this would be to pass a law prohibiting gun shows.

35. I Wonder How Many Death Threats Chief Gugliotti Has Received, So Far. (nt)

37. Halleujah!!!!!

K&R!

Finally!..... a R-E-A-L man, with real guts and courage. A hero that stands up. A voice of one. With that brave action, Chief of Police Michael Gugliotti emitted a proverbial "shot" heard all over his state, neighboring states, and now the whole country! I applaud this man and hope that other Chiefs of Police all over this country, or other city officials who issues these gun show permits, follow suit. The madness has to stop through however many different actions it takes. Federal, State and local governments, local community action groups. The time is now. No more excuses. Get the NRA lobby out Congress, for God's sake! Get. It. Out. Don't ban it, just get it out of Congress! Of course, Boehner and the Teabaggers won't let it come to a vote, so the only way this can be done is to regain the majority in the House in 2014 and get it done!

Oh, and NRA trolls: I will not respond to you. Any discussion with you guys (who CALL yourselves Democrats) is OVER.